Gold Selleck Silliman

1p handwritten file copy of travel expense report relating to estate settlement of Revolutionary War General Gold Selleck Silliman (1732-1790). Docket inscriptions verso. In very good to near fine condition, the document measuring 7.625" x 12.875". Overall toning, expected paper folds, and a few closed tears. Isolated residue verso over one of dockets.

Fairfield, Connecticut's Revolutionary War hero Gold Selleck Silliman left some unresolved financial issues after his death in July 1790. Connecticut Comptroller of Public Accounts Andrew Kingsbury (1759-1837) traveled to Fairfield to investigate on July 12, 1791 and April 24, 1792, each 60-mile journey taking 3-4 days and necessitating hiring a horse. Kingsbury was reimbursed £103 13 shillings 3 pence on May 31, 1792 in Hartford, Connecticut. This amount represented Kinsbury's initial outlay, "Cash paid for Expences [sicof two Journies to Fairfield to attend on Settlement of an Amount with the Commissioners on the Estate of Gold S. Silliman, Esqr. decd."

Silliman's estate was apparently still under review in 1795, a full five years after his death. Documents relating to his estate can be found in the Silliman Family Papers (MS 450) at Yale University Library.

Gold Selleck Silliman graduated from Yale University in 1752, practiced law, and served as a Connecticut militia officer in the years preceding the Revolutionary War. He was quickly promoted during the conflict, becoming a Brigadier General after 1777. Silliman was charged with protecting his hometown of Fairfield and the rest of southwestern Connecticut. (This region was particularly contentious as it bordered Westchester County and was within proximity to British-held New York City.) Silliman was held as a British prisoner of war for almost a year until his release in a dramatic prisoner exchange in the middle of Long Island Sound! He saw action in Long Island, New York City, White Plains, Danbury, Redding, and Ridgefield.

Andrew Kingsbury served as Connecticut Comptroller of Public Accounts around the time this document was recorded. Between 1793-1818, Kingsbury served as Connecticut State Treasurer.

George Wyllys (1710-1796), whose name appears on the bottom of this document, served as Secretary of Connecticut (as both a colony and a state) between 1735-1795.